"XOR DDoS takes hold by cracking weak passwords used to protect the command shell of Linux computers. Once the attackers have logged in, they use root privileges to run a script that downloads and executes a malicious binary file. There's no evidence XOR DDoS infects computers by exploiting vulnerabilities in the Linux operating system itself. Akamai's advisory has intrusion-prevention-system signatures for detecting infections and instructions for removing the malware."